Ray's Achilles Heels
by MeijiLover
Summary: Rosalind has new high-heels, leaving lots of the other kids jealous - especially Ray and Alicia.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Rune Factory 2 or the characters, and I'm not writing this story for a profit. The characters and place names and such aren't mine, but the basic idea for this little one-off was. I was inspired by a certain game Sprite for part of it, though!**

**I don't mind constructive criticism, but please don't flame it just for the sake of doing so. :) I am English and thus I write in UK-English; if you're American then some spellings may be a little different. I hope you enjoy my story – please read and review! Thank you!**

_This is just to say that this story is set about a year before Kyle makes his appearance in Alvarna. I took the liberty of deciding on ages for some of the characters, but it's not canon – just my imagination!_

* * *

Rosalind had new high-heels. They were patent leather and a luscious blue-purple colour stitched together with gold thread, as though whoever had put them together had stomped up and down in a barrel of grapes and allowed the juice to stain the shoes with their colour.

Rosalind had new high-heels, and Herman had been forced to pay a fortune to have them custom-made for his daughter's feet. They had cost more than anyone else earned in two seasons, and taken this same length of time to make, but Herman told himself that it was worth it to make his little girl happy.

Rosalind had new high-heels, and Ray wanted them for himself.

He was not alone – all of the girls in the village had seen these beautiful shoes and wanted them, with a longing compounded by admiration and jealousy. Mana had run home and thrown herself at Douglas' feet, begging him to buy her a pair for herself; Dorothy casually mentioned them in passing to Gordon, hoping he'd notice the eager blush beneath her hood; Julia determined to dispatch as many letters as possible to her family in the city, to discover where she could find something similar.

Alicia, too, had hurried home to her mother. She had demanded a pair of high-heels, and she wanted them as soon as possible, which naturally frustrated the logical Natalie.

"Why do you need a pair of shoes to feel good?" the doctor demanded as she brewed a special herbal tea for one of her patients. "You're in perfect health, I'm allowing you do indulge in that ridiculous fortune-telling business, and you don't do a hand's turn of work here at the clinic. What more can you possibly want?"

"I want those high-heels, mother, and nothing else will do!"

"No, we can't afford them. Why can't you be more like Ray? He never whines at me to buy him anything."

"That's the reason why he dresses like a girl!" Alicia retorted, hands on her hips. "He just has all my old hand-me-downs, because you're too mean to buy him anything for himself. Isn't that right, Ray?"

From where he had been sitting crushing herbs with a pestle and mortar, Alicia's younger brother looked up nervously. Alicia's eyes flickered to the frilly pale-pink collar at his throat, the lacy cuffs of his shirt, the purple shawl wrapped around his shoulders – she almost felt ashamed at not having noticed before now how much of a girl he looked wearing her old things. Then she rationalised that Natalie was the one in charge of buying clothes, and who kept the purse-strings tied up tight, and shifted the guilt instantly.

"Why don't you buy him his own clothes, mother?" the young fortune-teller challenged.

Ray coughed uneasily. "It's perfectly fine, Alicia. I don't really mind having to wear your old things…" He paused and coughed again, before adding in a much smaller voice, "…much."

"Aha!" Alicia pointed her finger towards Natalie accusingly.

The doctor only frowned more crossly, though all of a sudden she was starting to feel a little guilty. She had to admit, she had rarely considered buying any clothes for her son – perhaps because so much money went towards filling up Alicia's own wardrobe – and he was such a delicate, girlish-looking boy anyway. Natalie loved tying his hair back into two neat ponytails for him, marvelling at his thick purple hair and how he never winced when she took a brush to the lugs that often presented themselves after he had slept.

Thinking for a few moments, Natalie eventually turned to her son. "If you want me to buy you your own clothes, Ray, then you only need to ask me. Okay?"

He gave her a weak smile. "I understand, mother. Thank you."

"You're welcome, son. I'm only sorry I didn't notice before now." The doctor then turned to face her daughter, who was attempting to land an amiable punch on Ray's shoulder. "Alicia…if you want me to buy you high-heels – really want me to – then save up the money you earn from your…_work_…and if by New Year you've a reasonable amount collected, I'll pay the rest off as a gift. Does that sound good to you?"

"It sounds great! Thank you, mother!"

Alicia briefly considered embracing Natalie as a further sign of gratitude, but decided against it when her mother resumed brewing the tea; her medicines always smelled vile, and Alicia didn't want the smell to rub off on her and put off potential customers.

Filled with glee, the fortune-teller hurried away to begin the task of garnering enough money to pay for the heels. Natalie went back to the business of running the clinic, whilst Ray helped her out as best as he could. When he had finished with the pestle and mortar, he allowed himself a few minutes to eat his lunch.

* * *

Ray was had just finished scooping rice into his mouth, when all of a sudden the bell above the clinic door tinkled and in marched Max and Rosalind de Sainte Coquille.

"Good afternoon," Ray said politely, but only because he was working. Max and Rosalind were two of his closest playmates, and he knew them so well that social niceties weren't really necessary when he was talking to them. But with Natalie in earshot, he knew he must treat them as he would any customers. "Do you need to see my mother about anything?"

Max tossed his hair imperiously as he returned the greeting, and Ray felt his stomach flip-flop inside of him. He had something of a crush on the tall, good-looking heir to Herman the Gourmet.

Rosalind, who seemed to have sprouted an extra half a foot in height overnight, also mumbled a hello. This was unusual, because she was such a stickler for good manners and clear pronunciation. Ray noticed these things because he also had something of a crush on Rosalind, who was so pretty and always wore beautiful clothes. She was staring down at her feet as she spoke, too; the height of rudeness. How peculiar. He stared there too, eyes wide at the sight of the elaborate strapwork and the gorgeous purple leather encasing her tiny, perfect feet.

"My sister requires your mother's assistance," Max began, "and since it's a pressing matter, I'd like it if you could tell her that she is needed immediately."

"Of course. But what's the matter?"

"Her feet are very sore. She came home not half an hour ago with her toes cramping, and the arch of her left foot all red."

"It hurts a lot," Rosalind confirmed, wincing. "Please, Ray, go fetch your mother."

"Very well, then."

While they waited for Natalie to check Rosalind's feet, the boys trooped outside to get some fresh air. Max kicked up his leg and sat on the railing that kept the sea water from splashing onto the cobblestone pavement outside the clinic, so Ray did the same. He always liked to copy his oldest friend.

Then Max produced a slice of raisin bread from his pocket, broke off a little and chewed it before offering some to his friend. This time Ray was reluctant to imitate Max; his mother had warned him against eating anything too alcoholic, and the de Saint Coquille family was famous of its love of expensive vintage wines. He had no doubt that this would have been well-doused in the mysterious liquid the family kept in the racks on their kitchen wall.

"Take some, Ray, go on," persisted Max, pushing the bread closer to the nervous boy. "I promise that the cook didn't drench this particular loaf in wine."

"Are you sure? You can't know, really…"

For a moment Max looked as though he'd laugh. He didn't, but smiled knowingly as he tucked the bread back into his pocket. "More for me, then. Your sister already took a whole slice for herself when I passed her in the Square earlier…"

"Don't tell mother that, the two of them have been at it already today. I think Alicia caught sight of Rosalind's new heels."

"Oh, those things." Max rolled his eyes. "They cost a small fortune by anyone else's standards, I suppose. It's a good thing that Rosalind has such tiny feet, or they'd have cost even more! And she can hardly keep her balance in them, poor darling. Just like our mother."

"Why did your father buy them for her then, if they were so expensive?"

"She comes of age next year, and I suppose he wanted to prepare her for all that this entails."

"Which would be what, precisely? Alicia came of age two years ago, but not that much changed about her, except that she was finally able to start up that fortune-telling business of hers."

"Hmm, yes, well. I don't wish to sound cocky, but in the de Sainte Coquille family coming of age is a very important step." Max sighed as he remembered with chagrin his own birthday four years previously. "Father plans to start matching her up with potential suitors, finding her a good enough husband. I mean, I wouldn't know particularly, but Rosalind is considered quite a beauty by the standards of my family. Her portrait was released to other families around the country just over two seasons ago, and there was a great deal of interest."

"Well, Rosalind is very lovely." The jealousy churned in Ray's mind. "This doesn't surprise me in the least."

"Quite. But if she is to go and live elsewhere – become a "Lady of the Manor", if you will – she requires more etiquette training and a fuller wardrobe than she has at the moment. Nothing definite has been arranged, and I know that Rosalind herself is not eager to leave Alvarna, but father feels he must prepare her for any and every scenario. Buying her those heels was just one of the measures he has taken; if she becomes a City Wife, she would be derided for wearing anything _other_ than high-heels."

Ray smirked. "And I hope your father realises exactly the amount of trouble he has caused! All the girls in Alvarna now want their own pair of high-heels having seen your sister in them. That's why Alicia rowed with mother earlier, in fact."

"Your sister is quite tall enough without heels. Though I suppose it will at least be of some use to you yourself, Ray, if she gets them."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, whenever anybody hears that Natalie the doctor has two children, a son and a daughter, they will see Alicia in her heels and be forced to acknowledge her as a woman. Then they will see you, and despite their every instinct that tells them they have met with another woman, by process of elimination they will be forced to admit that you must be the doctor's son."

Dumbfounded for a few seconds while Max chortled to himself, Ray felt hurt tears well up in the corners of his eyes. "_Excuse me_? How could you say such a hurtful thing to your oldest friend, Max?"

"I apologise, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," Max said with yet another toss of his hair, though his apology sounded genuine. "If you are so keen to be called a woman, then just wait until your sister outgrows her heels. Then she can pass them on to you, and you can both continue to dumbfound your mother's patients until you finally qualify as a doctor yourself, and afford a haircut and some decent men's clothes."

"I _like_ my hair this length," Ray bristled, though he knew that Max was only teasing. "Your hair is long, too."

"That's true, but I don't tie mine back in little ponytails. Remember how you wanted to be a bride when you were younger?"

"Oh, don't start with that again…"

"As for myself, I remember it like it was yesterday. You'd be the bride and dress yourself in one of Rosalind's holiday gowns, and she would wear some of my clothes and fancy herself the groom. Then I would be the humble Knight and sweep you off your feet at the altar…"

"…Our play had odd undertones, didn't it? Rather embarrassing for such a manly man like you, Max."

"Point taken. I'm sorry for teasing you, Ray. I don't mean a word of it."

The friends were silent after that, watching the waves creep up the wall towards them. Ray fancied that it was symbolic of the tide of adulthood sweeping up, getting ever closer to where he sat with Max – not yet reaching him yet, but closing in. Soon he'd feel the water in his shoes and have to take responsibility for it himself, because his mother had always warned that something like this would happen, but whilst he was still young he never believed her.

"Oh, there you are, Max. Thank you for waiting for me!"

Rosalind stepped out of the clinic, still wearing her beautiful new shoes. Ray turned and couldn't help but admire them, want them for himself – just as he wanted Rosalind for himself, and Max too, even though in all three cases he knew that this was an impossibility.

Ever the gentleman, Max offered his sister his arm when he noticed her slight limp, and she took it gratefully. They looked so lovely in this moment of sibling affection that Ray felt the knot in his stomach get even tighter.

"Natalie gave me a little Moondrop juice to rub on my feet, to sooth them," Rosalind chirruped sweetly. "And she bandaged my left foot, too. I can still walk in my heels, but she advised that I don't attempt any overly vigorous terrain until my body is quite used to the strain."

"How you women suffer for your beauty," Max sighed, a tad hypocritically. "I'd best take you home, I suppose, so you can rest those feet of yours."

"Very well," his sister agreed. "Thank your mother for helping me, Ray. And thank you for keeping my brother out of mischief while he was waiting."

Ray nodded and watched them go. His eyes fell upon Rosalind's high-heels again and he thought of his mother's promise to Alicia earlier, and with a slight hint of shame he thanked God that he and his sister had the same-sized feet.

* * *

**Yeah, this take on the characters isn't exactly canonical. I'm not necessarily depicting Ray as gay, per se (heh heh, that rhymes), but I do think that his indulgence in feminine-style dress is pretty unusual and suggestive. Anyone who has seen the "Bride" sprite will know what I mean.**

**I don't particularly like Ray paired up with Rosalind, either, because for someone who seems to like her men dashing (and handsome) Ray is a very odd choice of husband. But whatever floats her boat (and yours, if you like them as a couple)!**


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